Czech
Republic keen to increase Norwegian gas imports
AFP
OSLO
Petroleumworld.com 01 12 06
The Czech Republic wants to increase its natural gas imports from
Norway in the future in order to buffer itself from a possible
drop in Russian supplies, Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said
on Wednesday.
"The Czech government is highly interested in diversification
of its energy sources," Paroubek told reporters during a
visit to Oslo.
"Regardless of the fact that we have ... contracts with the
Russian Federation we would like to increase the imports from
Norway" in the next "10, 15 or 20 years," he said.
Norway, the world's third-largest gas exporter, has said that
it is currently producing at full capacity and is unable to increase
production for the timebeing.
"We both see the importance ... of having different sources
of supply, of not being completely dependent on one source,"
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.
"We discussed the possibility of increasing Norwegian gas
sales. For the time being the capacity is full but Norway will
always support Norwegian companies when they try to increase their
gas sales," he added.
According to officials from the two countries, the Scandinavian
country currently fulfills about 20 or 25 percent of the Czech
Republic's gas needs, with the rest supplied by Russia.
The Czech Republic was only marginally affected by the gas conflict
between Russia and Ukraine, with "about one percent"
of supplies affected according to officials.
AFP
01/11/06
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